New Theology Review

Masthead

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Editorial

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

One Good Friday

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

What does it mean to be privileged? This is a deceptively tricky question. At first, one might suppose the answer to be what anyone would want: to live a beneficial life. But this answer leads to still further questions: a life beneficial for whom, to whom, or in what way? It leads to questions that ask us to look closely at our relationships with others, to look deep within ourselves at the presuppositions we carry about who we are and who others are too. It can also lead to questions that also ask us to reflect widely on systems that structure these relationships and are the unseen bearers of meaning. And if this line of inquiry seems provocative for the ways we view society, it seems all the more so for our Church. Our answers must therefore supply something more than a simple dictionary definition; they must respond to an implicit invitation to grow. This paper first asserts that for such growth to occur, one must awaken to the presence of interlocking systems of privilege and their impact on our perceptions of reality. We cannot remain indifferent. (This not an easy task for those inculturated to believe their perspective and experiences are normative.) And once awake, what then? Overcoming such internal resistance to change requires a robust and resilient moral imagination. Exploring ways to strengthen our moral imagination is therefore important for a healthy dynamic of spiritual growth. It helps to clarify our moral vision, enabling us to see ourselves and others as we really are. To ready ourselves we must enlarge and “relax” our hearts, since inclusivity and spiritual maturity spring from an acceptance of the other as “other.” In this process, the stories and iconographies of the Christ shared by womanist and black theologians are essential. They will enrich our understanding of the wisdom tradition, aid us in refocusing the lenses of our conceptual framework, and invite us all home to the mystical body of Christ.

California Dreams or Colonial Nightmares?

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

What if we approach the canonization of Junípero Serra through a prism of “borderlands memory”? What if we situate “memory” as a terrain of conflict and transformation that calls all of us to bear witness to the complexities of how the gospel has entered into and been received in the U.S. Southwest, the borderlands that has been ruled by three modern nations: Spain, Mexico, and the U.S.A.? Following the cue of Pope Francis in challenging colonial violence and legacies of exploitation, I propose that we approach Serra’s veneration through the lens of Chicana feminist thought, and we cast Serra as a frontera/borderlands saint whose veneration bears witness to struggles over how to remember California’s missions. I am not arguing that Serra is or was a hero of the borderlands struggle; I argue rather that the struggles over mission memory that culminated in Serra’s canonization are borderlands struggles. Struggles over California mission memory expose the entwining of religion, race, gender, and colonialism that have critically formed Catholicism in this hemisphere. We only do justice to that memory if we do not remember Serra alone, but in remembering him, we remember the complex histories of the California missions, the Native peoples who lived there, and the struggles over mission memory that have ensued in the last two centuries. Besides drawing on secondary scholarship in Chicanx/Latinx theologies and cultural studies, this work also draws on archival research about the missions and their reception in California from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. This essay contributes to history of the California missions, to their reception history, as well as to a methodological praxis that weighs both primary historical sources and contemporary interpretive contexts.

Bondage and Freedom

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

The following essay is a spiritual and pastoral reflection on the Original Sin which is bondage, and Salvation, which is freedom. The essay is a reflection in the Indian spiritual tradition which is filled with anecdotes to indicate to the truth.

Unlearning Racism:

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Catholics born between 1945 and 1965 were a part of the large post-World War II “baby boom” in the United States. These Catholic “boomers” were educated in the tenets of the faith within an ecclesial and societal environment that was strongly racially segregated. Thus formed as children, they potentially approach or are already engaged in retirement with a limited understanding of the Church’s contemporary teaching on the racial divide. From the broader societal perspective, they may also experience a reluctance to acknowledge or consider the ways in which being perceived as “white” has provided advantages and privileges unavailable to others. This paper considers these issues and suggests some approaches to aid Catholic boomers in bridging the racial divide.

Catechesis and Faith Formation: The Order of Celebrating Marriage

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

New Voices: Toward Linguistically Hospitable Dialogue

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

The words we use to name each other’s traditions can determine whether dialogue opens the heart or closes the door to deeper relationship and understanding. “Linguistic hospitality” is an essential aspect of interreligious dialogue. This column examines briefly four terms in common use that need updating: Old Testament, Judeo-Christian, speaking the Hebrew name of God, and Pharisee. Examining these terms from the place of their home tradition in Judaism opens the way for more amenable discussion and deeper insight into the world and hermeneutical context of both Jesus and rabbinic Judaism.

Signs of the Times: "A Sudden End of All Who Live On Earth"

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Theology at the Cutting Edge: Healing the Political and Social Divide in America

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Word and Worship: “Murder Your Darlings”

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

A Church of the Poor

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Revelation

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Conscience & Catholic Health Care

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Collaborative Parish Leadership

2017-09-29T15:23:07-05:00

Book Review